1. Field of the Invention
One or more embodiments of the invention are related to the field of image processing. More particularly, but not by way of limitation, one or more embodiments of the invention enable a method to remove or otherwise alter camera rotation from or in a panoramic video to facilitate creation of 2D and 3D virtual reality experiences from the stabilized video, including addition of visual effects and depth.
2. Description of the Related Art
Methods for generating panoramic images from a series of images are known in the art. These methods stitch images together to form wide field of view composite images. These methods may also be applied to video, where videos captured by multiple cameras are stitched together to form panoramic videos.
The video capture process for panoramic video may introduce undesired artifacts. For example, camera motion during capture may create rotations, shaking, or other artifacts. Reducing or eliminating these artifacts is desirable in many applications. While techniques for stabilizing individual video captures are known in the art, these techniques may not be applied directly to panoramic video because of the complexity of process for integrating video streams into a panoramic video. Individually correcting each video is not sufficient to generate a corrected panoramic video. Artists may in some cases manually correct each individual frame of a panoramic video to reduce or eliminate artifacts, but these procedures are extremely time-consuming and labor intensive.
The addition of visual effects or depth to a non-stabilized video requires more time and produces lower quality virtual reality experiences in 2D and 3D.
For at least the limitations described above there is a need for a method for removing camera rotation from a panoramic video.